The kind of amazing part of having a new baby is that you get little free passes. Because you don’t sleep so much and life is thrown upside down for a bit, you are allowed to slack off on certain things. This blog, the gym, all the little extras that bring so much joy, but that don’t really fit into the new juggling act of baby, house, work, life.

But, nine months in, we’re really getting this juggling act down (Some days. Some days, not so much.) and returning to the extras is making me so happy! Maybe I’ll blog more than two times in 2016!

I love exercise classes. And if there’s a fancy machine, or sexy lighting, or something weird/unique I’m even more excited to try it out. ClassPass started to get really popular right around the time I found out I was pregnant, and I didn’t want to try too many new things while I was also trying to grow a human, so I’ve had to wait until now to test the waters. I just finished up the two week trial and I.Am.Obsessed. I tried 13 classes in 2 weeks and I loved every single one of them. Sure, the logistics can be kind of tough… where do you go? where do you park? what do I need to bring? That all gets a little exhausting. And because you have to sign up in advance, and are charged a fee if you cancel with 12 hours, you are forced to show up. Some days that is truly terrible, and sometimes after being up more than a few times with a screaming infant, it might be worth $15 to stay snuggled in bed just a little longer. But the excitement of tackling and conquering something new that’s just for you when you’ve been giving your all to someone else for all those months has been the most amazing feeling for this new mama. I feel so good about myself and about life, in turn making me a better mother to that darling little girl!

So, thirteen classes in my ‘hood (I guess this is only helpful if you live in the valley!)

Forever Young Pilates – a super tiny studio with 5 reformers, the sweetest teacher and literally blocks from my house. The only class that fit into my schedule that day was a Level 1 class, but it was still a bit of a challenge, while still making me feel so long and stretched!

RPM Fitness Studio, RPM Spin – The first time I tried spin I thought it was spinning around on the floor with ribbon wands. Seriously. (I was 16. So young, so dumb) Turns out, spin is different! This class has huge windows overlooking the road, so it was nice to have a little bit of a distraction people watching. It was a good class, but there were only two others in the class, so I missed a bit of the group mentality in just buckling down and working through it though.

Barrys Bootcamp, Full Body – So badass. Treadmills and floor exercise that make you want to die. I walked out and snap chatted “fuuuuuuuck”. But I’m ready to go back because it was so good. The lighting is dark and sexy and the music makes you want to work even harder. I kind of got lost in it all because I was just trying to keep up, but it seemed to be 5-7 minute segments on the treadmill and then switching to floor exercise with weights. You are a sweaty hot mess when you walk out. The next day wasn’t super great for walking. My butt thanks me for it.

Up Flying Yoga, Aerial Yoga – Because you’re suspended three feet above the ground in a giant piece of fabric, you can stretch your body in ways you’d never imagined. I.Love.This.Class. I’d originally signed up for Aerial Dance, but got a notice that I needed to take Yoga first (you’ll see why when I talk about Aerial Dance later.). The savasana, completely suspended in a silk the smells like lavender… heaven. I literally could have spent the complete hour doing that, it was so good. But the class itself is so much fun and you feel long and lean and kind of amazing.

The Bar Method – I do love barre classes. You feel all long and ballerina-y afterwards. Bar Method is a good one… definitely on the slower end, but on days that I’m all cardioed out, I love the calming feeling of Bar Method. The holds are killer and the stretch makes me feel so strong!

CrossFit Horsepower, CardioFlex - Oh man. I’d done CrossFit before and didn’t really care for it. But my French tutor is a huge fan and encouraged me to come to this cardio class. Similar to CrossFit, but less lifting enormous weights and more cardio until you die. People throw up here. Each class is totally different, but this day we ran through a deck of cards… hearts were burpees, spades were squats, clubs were lunges and diamonds were v sit-ups with a medicine ball. The number on the card is how many of each exercise you do. Oh, and aces, 200m run with that medicine ball. I snagged the only 5 lbs weights in the place, but people around me were killing it with 20 lbs (I literally would have died.) The heavy exercise part takes about 35 minutes, and that’s about all you can take. The thing I do love about CrossFit is the camaraderie though… everyone is so friendly and encouraging. You feel like a part of this badass team, even if you’re the one dragging ass and collapsing on to your mat and praying for it all to be over soon.

Pilates Plus, Megaburn55 – I did this class twice, once in Studio City and once in Encino. They’re similar, although the Studio City location has fewer machines. It was sooooo intense! Hands down, the hardest reformer class I’ve ever taken. There are lots of moves and accoutrement, so the learning curve is pretty steep. I’m sure when I get it all down and can focus on the actual moves, it would be even more amazing. I was sweating and my body felt it for days.

Shift – I actually attended the very first Shift class there ever was and I loved it! They’ve moved to Sherman Oaks in the last year or so and the new location is incredible! I forgot how hard this class is, but so good! It’s a great mix of cardio and strength training on a boxing-style floor with weighted balls, small hand weights and resistance bands. It’s all very encouraging with a focus on shifting your body into a new and amazing place. A great class!

Sandbox Fitness, Surfiest Strength – It’s a giant sandbox and you workout with surfboards balanced on balls. Sure you can do squats, but can you do them on a wiggly surfboard with a heavy barbell? This class was so much fun, even though I don’t really care for sand and it gets everywhere. I believe it’s only 45 minutes, which is kind of nice for quick mornings! And if you want to be crazy, it’s next door to Pure Barre, so you could park once and workout two times!

Up Flying Yoga, Aerial Dance – If on a scale of 1-10 Aerial Yoga was a 4, Aerial Dance would be a 372. This class is so hard and requires so much body strength… upper, lower, core, all the strengths. My friend Heidi and I took it together and were laughing out of sheer awkwardness… graceful we are not. At one point I fell out of my silk and onto the floor like a sack of potatoes. At another point, I wrapped myself into an awkward cocoon while the teacher spun into an incredible aerial split. BUT, I kind of can’t wait to go back. Pulling yourself up into this crazy acrobatic display is one of the most gratifying moments. If you can pull it off, you look AMAZING! I didn’t expect to feel like I worked out at this class, but I was sweaty and I definitely felt it the next day!

Pulse, 30/20/10 – This class is like Barry’s Bootcamp little sister… sweeter and less intimidating, but still pretty badass. The treadmill portion is pretty similar to Barrys but the floor exercise are much less intense. The music is great, the lighting is sexy… I do really enjoy sexy lighting when I workout. This is also in the same shopping center as Shift, so if you want to work super hard one day, it’s a one stop shop!

Yoga NoHo, Yoga Sculpt – This studio is so close to my house and they had perfect afternoon classes. After a grueling two weeks, I thought this could be a nice stretchy and calming class to end my trial. I was wrong. I was sweaty. I did handstands (what!?). It was amazing and just what I didn’t realize I needed. The savasana was so amazing… dark room, the teacher covered us with blankets and spritzed a citrusy spray and I could have slept there all night.

Whew… two weeks of such good workout! I wanted to make sure that I got my $19 worth and I’m so happy to say that I did! I love finding new places to workout and pushing my body to try new things. I dropped a few pounds, am seeing so much more definition in my body and just generally have so much more energy and excitement for the day. I’ve loved it so much that I’m going to stay on for another month at least! There are some classes that I can bring McCarty along, so when Chris goes back to work and the Daddy-Daughter dates get cut back, I can still use ClassPass if I don’t make it out before he goes to work! It’s pricey, but if I use it 3-4 times a week, definitely worth it!

I have a few studios that I still want to try, but if you have any favorites, throw them at me!